Breaking Ground: Betty Laker's Journey to Justice

In the tranquil village of Oryang, nestled within the Kitgum district, a remote locale 481 kilometers to the north of Uganda’s bustling capital city, Kampala, 47-year-old Betty Laker diligently works, her weathered hands delving into the earth as she uproots cassava tubers. The sun beats down relentlessly but she remains focused, determined to provide nourishment for herself and her family. 

"They (my late husband’s relatives) prevented me from cultivating on my husband's land after he passed away. I had no means to feed my four children," she recounts, the anguish of her past hardships evident in her eyes as she reflects on the challenges she  has faced over the years. 

Amidst the relentless barrage of insults and ongoing abuse that endangered her very existence, Laker finally reached her breaking point and made the difficult decision to go back to her birthplace - Oryang village. 

Little did she know that leaving her husband's home in neighboring Palabek-Kal Sub County, situated in Lamwo district, would not free her from oppression. Her clan imposed similar constraints on her once she relocated. 

"I had come to settle on the land of my father being the only surviving child. However, my uncle informed me that I have no entitlement to any portion of the land, as it has already been divided among his younger children," she says. In many parts of Uganda, the prevalence of violence against women and girls, including challenges related to land ownership rights, remains distressingly high with a 2021 national survey by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) showing that 95% of Ugandan women had experienced physical and/or sexual violence.

Today Laker is glad that she received help from the Legal Aid project office in Kitgum, who wrote a letter and summoned her relatives who had illegally settled on her ancestral land. 

“At first, they were very arrogant, but they were later advised to divide the land, and I was allocated 2 pieces measuring about 2 acres in total. I constructed in one while the other piece is cultivation,” Laker explains. 

“I’m glad to report that ever since we had meetings, they ceased disturbing me plus my children over this land. I'm very grateful to the UN Women support and Legal Aid for rescuing me. I had lost hope because I didn’t expect to be barred from accessing even our ancestral land from my own family members,” she adds. 

Betty Laker is among a total of 7,657 women who are being supported through the European Union (EU) funded Spotlight initiative, implemented in Uganda by UN Women. The initiative aims to eliminate violence against women and girls, including sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices. 

In Uganda, the Spotlight Initiative is implemented by the Government of Uganda, the European Union, UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP and UNHCR in partnership with OHCHR, IOM, Pulse Lab and civil society. Since 2019, almost 900 people in Uganda have completed training on how to assist women and girls experiencing violence with support from Spotlight Initiative.